If you hire a collections agency to help you recover debts from customers, you should be able to sit back and let these professionals do the legwork of contacting and working with your customers. It’s common for an agency to require a legal agreement before proceeding with collection activities on your behalf. If you decide you no longer wish to employ the collection agency, cancel the contract and pursue your collections using a different method.

Step 1

Read the contract carefully to learn the terms. Specifically, the contract should state termination policies, including the length of notice required, the acceptable communication methods for delivering notice and any fees or penalties for termination.

Step 2

Contact the collections agency to deliver timely notice of termination according to the terms of the contract. If the contract stipulates a verbal 30-day notice, call the agency and speak directly with a customer service representative. Ask for the representative's name to enable you to confirm the conversation later, if necessary. Tell the representative that you are cancelling your contract under the terms stated within the contract. Take notes about your conversation to document it, including the representative's name, the date and the outcome of the conversation. If the contract stipulates a written 30-day notice, write a letter to the agency. Address the letter to the collections agency, include your account number and state that you wish to cancel your contract under the terms stated within the contract. Include a copy of your contract with the letter and send it to the agency via certified mail.

Step 3

Pay any termination penalties or fees in accordance with the contract. The contract may stipulate that you pay a percentage of returned accounts or a flat fee. In addition, the contract also may state that any collections already in process will not be subject to the cancellation and will continue until resolution.

Tip

The contract may stipulate that you can cancel services without notice if the collections agency violates any contract terms or provisions. If you believe this has occurred, contact an attorney for guidance.

Check the contract’s effective dates. If you are approaching this date, you may want to wait for the contract to expire rather than cancelling to avoid fees or penalties.

References

About the Author

Kathryn Hatter is a veteran home-school educator, as well as an accomplished gardener, quilter, crocheter, cook, decorator and digital graphics creator. As a regular contributor to Natural News, many of Hatter's Internet publications focus on natural health and parenting. Hatter has also had publication on home improvement websites such as Redbeacon.